THE ELEPHANT WHISPERER
Somchat Changkarn and his charges can communicate without words – this mahout can tell how the animals are feeling by their body language. He spends up to 12 hours per day with the pachyderms at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center.
A life for the gentle giants of Thailand
当大象看到水时，没有阻碍！几个时刻前，部队在单一文件中对湖泊悠闲的小跑，然后，他们突然间，他们撞到了银行，把自己扔进了凉爽的水中。“洗澡时间是我们收费的真正高点，”Somchat Changkarn解释道。泰国MAHOUT一直在南邦泰国大象保护中心（TECC）的工作17年。为了让游客更容易到中心，40岁的孩子们不惜一切顺利。他有两个孩子，现在是首席mahout，照顾111只大象，以及他的剩余团队。该中心在省首都省首都东南部约80公里，在泰国北部。该中心覆盖着一个充满厚森林和郁郁葱葱的绿色山丘的大型野生地区;养殖站和大象医院;游客中心和一个Mahout学校。
Mahouts是训练有素的大象牧民，能够用简单的命令，手势和触摸引导这些灰色巨人。“没有人知道像经验丰富的Mahout这样的大象，”Dang说。“我们可以精确地阅读他们的肢体语言，它告诉我们那个那一刻的感觉如何以及它需要的东西，而且它是时候湖泊中凉爽的浴室，他们也告诉我们。他们焦躁不安，向我们展示了他们想要走到水中。“
Splashing in the lake is skincare
Baths are not just about the welcome cooling effect for elephants. In fact, the skincare implications are far more important. “That is why bathing in the lake is a part of their daily routine,” explains Dang. This is where the elephants wash off the muddy crust they have built up over several “sand baths”. They use the sand to protect themselves from the sun, from overheating and from irritating insects.
Thailand – the home of the elephants
The day-to-day lives of humans and elephants are more closely interwoven in Thailand than anywhere else on earth. Up until 1917, the national flag even featured a white elephant to symbolise the absolute monarchy. The birth of a white elephant (often albino or “normal” elephants with paler flecks of pigment on their ears or foreheads) was regarded as a good omen for the ruler of the time. Even today, white calves automatically pass into the ownership of the Thai royal family and, according to legend, one of Buddha’s incarnations was as a white elephant. Many Thais believe that the country’s borders depict the head of an elephant. The “forehead” forms the border with neighbouring Myanmar in the north and the “trunk” stretches to the Andaman Sea in the west, plunging into the Gulf of Thailand in the east.
Working animals with no work
不幸的是，这些温和巨人的历史也包括在多年来的战争中的使用，并作为“卡特尔斯”，以通过密集的泰国森林拉动树干重量几吨。1989年，伐木在泰国做了非法，意思是许多大象成为要求的盈余。从大象的那一点不得不赢得他们作为旅游景点的保留，并通过徒步旅行中的丛林运送假日制造者 - 经常生活在糟糕的条件下。值得庆幸的是，Mindsets现在已经长时间变化了：泰国政府已宣布广阔的土地是保护区，正在鼓励绿色旅游，并积极提高意识。这就是Mahouts拥有的大量专业知识确实自己。在国家大象研究所（Nei），这是南邦泰国大象保护中心的一部分，加上Taweepoke angkawanish，大象保护计划，照顾生病或孤儿的大象，以及被放弃的大象他们的前所有者。内部医院免费对待大象，由泰国政府提供资金，并在中心土地上的生态旅游的收入。在整个待遇过程中，每个大象都会从他们自己的分配的mahout接受护理。“恢复期往往持续两三个月，在此期间我们试图尽可能地教育Mahouts，以免为大象的未来健康问题，”Taweepoke angkawanish解释。 “We show them how to take proper care of the elephants.”
Hygiene is a crucial factor in keeping domestic elephants.
“大象经常生病，因为它们被陷入肮脏的马厩，”Dang解释道。“动物不得不从肮脏的地板上吃掉，以这种方式捕捉疾病。许多大象也没有得到足够的照顾。“这些动物需要保持清洁，以便在南邦生存，工作人员每天都使用热水压力垫圈，清洁大象马厩和打开顽固污垢的空间。小大象还使用花园软管淋浴。“许多大象所有者并不意识到每天清洁动物的环境是多么重要，”Dang指出。
在南邦，他们正在收获与这项政策一致的好处。每年都会看到两头大象出生，这意味着该中心正在为保护物种做出重大贡献。“泰国没有大象？我无法想象它，“杂雨说。“我没有比大象更美丽的动物。它们令人惊讶聪明，非常善于交际。他们照顾彼此，每只大象都有自己独特的个性。这使得它们比许多人意识到的人类更相似。“
FIVE FACTS ABOUT THAILAND
• The Kingdom of Thailand covers an area of 513,115 km². The capital is Bangkok.
•Thais崇拜他们的国王。你会在各处找到他的照片。
• This South East Asian country borders Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.
• The national anthem is played every day on Thai television, radio channels and in public buildings at 8 am and 6 pm. When they hear the anthem, people stand or stop for a moment – before going back to normal life.
• The principle crop in the country is rice.
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